Lost and Found
by ksaac
Summary: What has been lost can always be found, home is in the distance and hearts are ready to be bound, at least as far as Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins are concerned. (please read and review! thank you) (thilbo) (bagginshield) (m/m)
1. Entirety

**Notes; **I thought I would do a different take to things and focus on a good popular prompt of the dynamic of bilbo and thorin once meeting beforehand. so expect, short, sweet and fluffy chapters. and make sure to read and review and let me know just what you think as I feed off your opinions and critique and whether you want more or not! so without further ado, please enjoy!

**Summary; **Harassment from prying dwarves, and a watchful king over his confidant.

**Disclaimer; **I do not own the characters; I am just a victim and slave to middle earth.

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It was a long wake since the eagles had dropped off the company on the carrock. An adrenaline rush was too weak of a word to describe what had kept them up for so long but was possibly the easiest route to describe the consequence Thorin and company had suffered after the climax appeal with the pale orc. Brittled, weak, and shaken up they all were, but alive and full of joyce!

With that rush running from head to toe, the dwarves were both exhausted and thrilled after their near victory and narrow escape; with the company still alive, the eve was the perfect time than any other to use their rest stop (away from the carrock, and close to the edge of a streaming river) to share strong ale and pass out from lack of rest till the sun peaked over the horizon.

Bilbo had turned down any hard beverage offered to him. But it was finally Bofur who had a canteen full of a burning liquor stuffed away behind the many layers of thick cloth he was covered in to wrap a large arm around the unsuspecting hobbit and pop the nozzle into his mouth. Encouraged by the roar of laughter and cheer by his fellow dwarves Bofur was. But poor Bilbo nearly choked as he guzzled on the drink, pushing away, sputtering like a fool and letting the drink dribble from his bottom lip.

Running the sleeve of his arm over his mouth, he turned flustered, whilst he got a teasingly swat on the back from Bofur who wanted to share a laugh with the halfing. "Ay, lad, yew can never go wrong with a wee li'l pint of the strong stuff!" He stated cheerily.

"Oh, I beg to differ!" Bilbo insisted, embarrassed, not that he had anything against having a merry time but the hobbit was constantly reminded he was surrounded by dwarves, who he presumed drank this stuff by the galleon time and time again. There was no competition in holding his liquor to a dwarf.

A hobbit could drink like a hobbit could smoke though, thank you, but as you may recall, Thorin out smoked the poor little hobbit with larger smoke rings and a settlement of flustering still guilt ridden the hobbit. He was now certain the dwarves were trying to send him over his own limit.

It was flattering that they were nurturing him as one of their own though, finally he had earned a fit within the company. Though he felt more like a brother among them, rather than a victim of cruelty, he was a victim of torment. Especially around the fire of rowdy dwarves on this eve.

"Tell us, Mr. Boggins," Kili started loudly, swinging his hand to the front of Bilbo, taking the palm of the hobbit into his own, "Ever been in love?" He jested, and followed the inquiry by a sloppy curtsey.

Bilbo pulled his hand back quickly, embarrassed yet again as the dwarves laughed at his silent response. "Not quite!" He confessed. If he ever was, he would have been married by now, being past his tweens.

"Look how his cheeks have turned all red, lads," Bofur pointed, leaning in to pinch at a cheek, "Reckon he may be lying!"

Bilbo dodged that hand quickly, being the one of the company still in tact with movement. Huffy, he set his hands on both sides of his hips and groaned some.

"Hand him another dose of yer finest, Bofur, I say we worm a good story out of the hobbit!" Fili chimed in happily, an arm wrapping merrily around his brother.

Wagging a finger, Bilbo declined, etching away from the group, eyes wandering the forest looking for a means of escape. His eyes finally dropped on that of Thorin. Had he been watching this whole time, Bilbo had wondered.

When Thorin noted the halfing looking onwards, eyes falling on his own was the cue for Thorin to leave. It had not been out of sulk though, he was only waiting for the attention of Bilbo to draw on him and for him to follow.

Despite Thorin being impossible to read with his stoic ego, and despite Bilbo having little to no knowledge on the dwarf king, Bilbo understood to leave the party of merry dwarves and follow the king under the mountain towards the peak of the wood and towards the gushing river.

It was heartening that Bilbo now earned a moment of privacy with the king. He hoped the feeling would last the entirety of the journey just as well. The dwelt thought that he would never plea for me but respect whatever Thorin thought of him now was enough to put him at ease.


	2. Persistent

**AN; **we got a much longer chapter here, filled with subtle fluff between thorin and bilbo. not to mention, I needed to squeeze in something before work. everything so far is pretty self explanatory and more for the readers to feed off of, so whether you enjoyed this chapter, and liked the background, please leave behind a review.

**Summary; **hopeful wishes, blast to the past, and a touch of endearment from bilbo.

**Disclaimer; **I do not own the characters; I am just a victim and slave to middle earth.

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Bilbo on the hinds of his legs, starting wriggling a finger around in the water, which was enough to feel refreshing. He longed for a good, long, soak. His body had been scraped and bumped from his unpleasant unconscious bidding whilst trapped in the goblin cave.

Oin, of course before the honour of their lives with whatever beverages they had carried on their backs, had suggested that on coming across any supplements of the forest, he may get to whisk some ointment for Bilbo to relieve his marks for the most part.

Well, that was not all, Bilbo hoped for a good scrub too. He felt gross and grubby and uncomfortable whilst on this journey.

Instead, he flopped down on his bottom and stuck his large feet into the chilly water, succumb to the silence he created with the dwarf king. He had enough wits to know that Thorin found the cheer to be a nuisance to their security.

When Bilbo wiggled his way through the crowd, Thorin who kept his distance, requested that apart from their security, they should learn to control their volume as it was not safe to draw any attention to themselves before they set off again at dawn.

Partly because of the distasteful torment that had been put on Mr. Bilbo Baggins, but he kept that argument to himself. He found no reason to set aside any out of place jealousy.

And still Bilbo asked no questions as to why Thorin wished for his company, it was unlike him to request the comfort of somebody, while Thorin was full of pride, Bilbo assumed he wanted just the presence of somebody who knew how to be quiet.

It seemed like he thought ill of himself for that, but since the carrock, Bilbo did not mind sharing the silence with the dwarf. He knew Thorin cherished safety over his men.

"I cannot wait for us to walk upon my kingdom without any fear, for us to finally rest," Thorin finally spoke. Bilbo was not sure out of discomfort to the silence between them, or because Thorin found genuine comfort in confiding with the halfing.

"You will love it," Thorin assured him, when Bilbo peered from his shoulder to the king, "When we can safely step upon the stone ground, and sleep sound in our beds, made of the finest felt, you will sleep like death has taken over you,"

"Is that a good thing?" Bilbo asked, cracking a small smile.

"You will no longer have to worry about waking up with your back in aches any longer," Thorin confirmed to which Bilbo could agree to, he missed the sheets of his bed and longed to sleep like a log, or sleep like the dead as Thorin put it.

It was not common for Thorin to speak so optimistically unless his group were especially weary, as though he fed off the fear and spoke like a true king. For and to his men. But these words came all on his own and spoke of his high hopes.

"We will be at home," He assured.

Thorin normally relied on the grim memory of all his past at the lost of his kingdom under the mountain. To live fulfilled once more seemed unrealistic, and that a life on the road was the only known for him.

There had been a time where some contentment was found.

And where could you find an abundance of merry folk? In the shire of course. Where a younger princeling had found himself long after Moria. This was the only contentment that was found after the longest while.

It was rare. For his heart was hardened and he longed for revenge. It was a hobbit who got him to speak of being homesick which felt untrue, but suddenly became the only way to describe their loss.

It began as you might expect. With a clash of the heads. Put two opposites together, and you are bound to get a sticky mess.

But lets put it simply; a travelling merchant and a Baggins of Bag End who wanted nothing to do with solicitors at his door.

Add the travelling merchant being difficult and persistent, you get a tempered Baggins who advises nobody in Hobbiton with a brain would ever want any craftsmanship of weaponry in their hands at any time soon.

You can imagine I am talking about Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins having a previous encounter long, long ago.

Well, you can also imagine how impossible these two were in their own ways, Thorin at a loss of his world, and Bilbo still a tween, both reckless and uptight in their own ways.

This was something the both of them had wanted to forget for it made their blood boil at the time, so goodness gracious knows how bantering back and forth had Bilbo with his fists perched on his fence, cheeks ruddied red and an exchange of different expressions. It was when Thorin smouldered that the situation spiralled into something entirely different.

Now Bilbo blushed over something else. This was not about to turn into some silly first love tale of his. Thorin had other intentions though, for now their was a new fire in his heart, not out of any dismay but excitement. Childish and romantic excitement.

"You do not seek any of my goods?" Thorin shrugged, sounding overly apathetic which flustered Bilbo even further. His only thought was drat, "Then I will be off, but we should make our extent of amends rather than us leave on such bad terms."

Perhaps it was that for once a dwarf was being reasonable that suddenly got on the nerve of Bilbo Baggins, that he raised a finger. A common defence mechanism of his. "No," He drawled, "The stubbornness of a dwarf has no means of leaving on good terms,"

"If you say so," He paused waiting for a name from the halfling (as any good salesman should know, introductions are key and likely essential to keep your meet personified, but you may have already guess, the two remained nameless) who kept silent and instead rose his eyebrows as if he was waiting for the merchant to leave his property, "It will be your conscious that has to deal with what could have been."

Bilbo scoffed, "What could have been?" He repeated, though more as a question, "What a silly thing to even say, when of course, you had brought it upon yourself!" As if the dwarf himself was not stubborn enough.

The unknown princeling paid no heed to what Bilbo had just replied with and instead spoke on his behalf once more, "I, however, will take it upon myself to make sure otherwise." The dwarf set his belongings down.

"Otherwise?" Bilbo repeated, eyes still stretched and wrinkling his forehead. He really was at a state of confusion. No more than when Thorin had leaned down, hand pulling the hobbit in for a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. Now Bilbo was at a loss of words, the only thing he could squeak out was a, "That was quite unprofessional!"

Thorin looped his bag over his shoulder once more, and went to carry his goods back down the path, "Till we meet again, halfing," Bilbo gnawed his fingernails into the wood of his fence, humiliated and happy at the same time. "There will be no next time!" He squeaked out again, tone of his voice losing all the ground it originally had.

It was a shame he could not let his stubborn youth go and chase after the wandering dwarf. His Took side just disappeared then and there and he stood there flustered.

Surely this was a moment to remember and be fond of, and indeed it was, in secrecy for the both of them. It was pretty scandalous after all. And a distant memory.

In short, it was not a memory to think about to disappoint yourself as the hobbit reminded himself. There was just no foolish love story to look forward too since his coming of age, just literature, cooking, and living at peace. So Bilbo did not think about that for the longest of times.

Thorin on the other hand, remembering was constant since directions from Gandalf had lead him to the familiar settlement on Bag End. But not, however, to relive. He had created a different relationship with the hobbit now. And at now, it seemed best just to let that happy time be left in shadows.

"Its a rutty filth from Bofur, but will have to do the trick," Bilbo suddenly spoke after the longest of whiles, holding a damp make do handkerchief, and ringing it out into the water. "You see," He pointed to Thorin, "I noticed you nor anybody else had the sense to tend to your battle wounds."

Thorin, somewhat awe struck, remained still, eyes following Bilbo stepping forward to him. Softly he replied, "I do not need to be nurtured, nor mothered. By you especially." He insisted. If he had not said that so dryly, Bilbo may have taken that as an insult. Instead he coaxed further.

"Try not to think of it as so belittling then," On his toes, Bilbo reached up. Bilbo used the arm to keep himself steadied as he stood taller. As though he took precaution before tending to Thorin, he paused momentarily waiting for the opposing response. There was none, so Bilbo washed his forehead.

"You are remarkably kind," Thorin insisted as the relaxed into the hold Bilbo had on his armour. Bilbo blushed. He still was not used to being complimented by the king yet.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for a hobbit," He told, "Just a deed that should be done," He put emphasis on should before landing on the flats of his feet. "Back to dashing, well, as dashing as a dwarf can get that is,"

Thorin cleared his throat, "The forest has turned much quieter, company has finally been put to rest, I suggest you take advantage of any sleep you can get before we set off,"

Bilbo nodded, arms knocking back and forth against his sides before he turned for the campground. "You may take rest here, I should still keep watch and I must keep certainty that my burglar is in safe hands,"

Bilbo was flattered, for a number of reasons out of that statement. So without further words, Thorin sat on the earth, letting the hobbit accompany him at his side, keeping watch on the hobbit before he finally fell into a well deserved slumber.


End file.
